Why is it so dark?

[radonc73]

I have brewed about 10-15 Mr. B. recipes and they always come out dark. Even the Classic Amarican Light. I don't boil the wort just heat it up, I fill the LBK to the line so it is not concentrated. It all tastes great but it is never "picture"clear. I can see the wheat beers being dark but all of mine are dark. Am I looking too far into this?

[mashani]

I have brewed about 10-15 Mr. B. recipes and they always come out dark. Even the Classic Amarican Light. I don't boil the wort just heat it up, I fill the LBK to the line so it is not concentrated. It all tastes great but it is never "picture"clear. I can see the wheat beers being dark but all of mine are dark. Am I looking too far into this?

Do you mean "cloudy" or do you mean "dark"? It sounds like you mean "cloudy".

Cloudy, if it bugs you, you can try to cold crash - put your LBK in the fridge for a day or two - before you bring it out and bottle from it. Do not put it in your fridge until you are sure it's done fermenting.

[radonc73]

No dark like I used dark male extract. I know that there is really only 2 or 3 pics used on the webside but mine always seem to be darker. I cold crash the LBK to remove some cloudyness. I need to figure out this computer so I can take a pic. It is not a real big deal I just notice alot of my beers come out looking the same no matter if it is an Octaberfest Lager, Hanks Hefe, or CAL.

[RickBeer]

Heat it up?

You boil water, remove from stove, pour in can of HME, stir, dump in LBK.

If you heat the HME on the stove it will turn darker.

[Bluejaye]

Well, extract will darken over time. And the "smooth" LME will darken it. Other than that, I'm not sure, I'd have to see a picture. I can tell you that you won't get light yellow beer like commercial beer since part of the point of homebrew is it having some substance to it.

This is a picture of the Mexican Aztec (my first brew), are you saying its significantly darker than this?

first pour small.jpg (115.66 KiB) Viewed 940 times

[radonc73]

Not significantly darker I know that it wont be a light as a commercial beer but I thought it would be lighter for some reason esp the CAL since some felt it was too watery. I love my results but I have seen peoples Mr Beer photos and they are much clearer in the glass. I heat the can up in a waterbath on the stove to get it to flow smoother. I don't boil it but it is hot enough that I use and ove' glove to pour the HME out without burning my fingertips.

[mashani]

Your saying that you don't just put the can in warm water (as in warm to the touch, not "burns your hands!"), and instead you actually heat the can up to a hot enough temperature (while still sealed?) that you have to use oven mitts to hold the can while you pour the extract out? The can is touching the bottom of your pot? Is the flame on while it's doing that, or do you heat the water and then turn off the flame and immerse the can then?

If the flame is on, then your likely scorching some extract in the can where the can touches the bottom of your pot.

Even if your flame is off, in the sealed can, holding it at temps too hot to handle could very well cause some Maillard reaction in the can. This happens in canned liquid malt extracts to begin with, the older it is the more it will darken even at cool temperatures. But it's a temperature sensitive reaction, and if you heat it up that warm in the can it might start to happen pretty fast and be enough to notice.

[jpsherman]

I stopped trying to warm up the can. On brew day I have to sanitize utensils anyways, so I have a sanitized spoon or spatula to scrape out the can.

[RickBeer]

There is no need to do that. 15 minutes in hot tap water is more than adequate as per the directions.

[radonc73]

Ya, I think I will change my technique on heating the can. I wondered why it was so dark but that explains it. I can be a bit of a meiser when it comes ingredients. I want to get all I can out of it and it seemed to pour very well hot to the touch. I started using this tech with an older can of of BRA that was pretty old but I was new to the game and saw it on clearance and didn't know how much I didn't know about brewing. It really did not want to come out of the can so I warmed it and viola it worked so well I kept it up. Thanks for all the help I sometimes cann't see the forest through the trees and another perspective always helps and most of the time it is my error for straying off the KISS list.

[RickBeer]

Pour the can in, use a spoon to get most of it out. Then, take a small amount of hot tap water (have it run hot before you start pouring) and swish it in the can, then dump that in.

[Bluejaye]

I can be a bit of a meiser when it comes ingredients. I want to get all I can out of it...

I'm the same. I just sit my extract in the sink filled with hot water while I boil the 4 cups of water on the stove. I then reserve a cup of the boiled water in a sterilized pyrex measuring cup, santize the top of the can with a paper towel soaked in sanitizer, open the extract, use a spatula to get all I can out of the can, then pour the reserved cup onto the can and stir it around.